http://www.amazon.com/dp/0991263502
Full book title: An Upraised Chalice - Adventures and Near-Death Encounters in my Search for the Brotherhood of Light - and What It Can Mean for You
Looking at the big picture gives most of us pause for concern. For many decades now, we have watched the world we live in become more unsettled. Populations have increased dramatically; food and shelter throughout the world, even in the US, are concerns for many. Many areas of the earth are experiencing climate change, punctuated by extreme weather conditions. Severe drought, heavy rains, and extreme temperature-swings threaten world food production. The world economy seems to teeter on the brink of insolvency, experiencing one crisis after another. This makes it difficult for many to make ends meet, which in turn, serves to fuel more credit-card debt, which exacerbates the debt crisis. The worldwide geopolitical conflicts, often fueled by extremist religious dogmas, seem to envelop more countries and produce unimaginable horror year after year.
Many feel a cultural malaise has settled in. Exposed to continual media broadcasts concerning these disturbing worldwide events, many become used to it, numb, and indifferent to what is happening around them. We cringe as our children grow up in this environment, exposed to all of this. They seek to emulate the lifestyles that are presented to them by the so-called entertainment industry and by corporate advertising. This in turn outpictures in our children’s lives, effectively steering new generations into lifestyles that give less importance to altruistic behaviors and ideals and great importance to materialistic pursuits. Our children are confronted with an almost irreconcilable gulf between the innocence they know in their hearts and the cold and too often violent images that are served up by the media. Tragically and more and more frequently, this outpictures in actions of undreamed horror that in some instances can bring an entire nation to its knees. There is a growing sense among many that something major is missing in our civilization—a lack of moral compass, a lack of direction. Many are looking for answers.
With all the above as background, we are caught up in our daily lives. The days turn into weeks and the months into years. Before you know it, we’re not kids anymore—relationships, careers, families, and responsibilities have arrived. For many in this culture, it’s almost a frantic pace of doing, doing, doing, for both us and our families.
The years move forward and everyone is attending to their life’s priorities, focusing on how to be happy, make a living, raise a family. The years turn into decades and sooner or later, (hopefully later) sickness or accidents happen and all are again confronted with the big questions: Why? What’s next? What has this life that I’ve lived been about? As one begins to consider their own eventual departure: What have I been able to do to make things a little better? What have I passed along to make others’ lives more beautiful?